July 5. On this date in 1957, a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi stated "The whole purpose of the Bahá’í administrative bodies at this time is to teach, to increase the membership, to increase the Assemblies and to increase the Groups..."
102: National Spiritual Assembly of the Benelux Countries, Mrs. Léa Nys, Secretary, 5 July 1957
Dear Bahá’í Sister:
Your communications with their enclosure have all arrived safely, and the beloved Guardian has instructed me to answer you on his behalf and to acknowledge receipt of your letters dated: April 25, May 5, 7, 19 and 24, June 17, and a letter regarding the Benelux Bulletin.
The historic formation of the three new Regional Assemblies for Europe has been a source of great joy to his heart, and he feels sure that it marks the opening of an important new phase in the progress of the Faith. In the past, the goal countries of Europe have been under the direct tutelage of the European Teaching Committee, acting for the American National Assembly. It was like a child who has a loving governess who lays the foundation of its education. Now the child has grown up and become a young man, and independent. He feels sure that this new development will be characterized by a marked step forward in the teaching work.
The whole purpose of the Bahá’í administrative bodies at this time is to teach, to increase the membership, to increase the Assemblies and to increase the Groups, not to create rules and regulations and impede the work through unnecessary red tape, but to insure that a great breath of spiritual vitality and inspiration goes out to the friends from their new National Body. Your Assembly should constantly bear this in mind, encourage and stimulate the friends in the teaching field, smooth out difficulties and misunderstandings and hurt feelings through love, understanding and wisdom, refrain from harsh measures, and, above all, from over-organization of the affairs of the Communities. There is a definite tendency of people everywhere to try and over-administer, so to speak, and the beloved Guardian points this out to your Assembly during the very first year of its existence in order to put it on its guard against this danger, which will stifle the spiritual life of the Community. You may be sure that many, many times he has issued this same warning to such old and tried national bodies as that of America, Germany, England etc.
It is not necessary for your Assembly to acknowledge by cable, communications, whether letter or cable, or to cable him after each National Assembly meeting. This only adds unnecessarily to the drain on your limited resources, all of which are needed for the all-important work of spreading the Faith in the three countries you represent.
The believers must be encouraged to teach individually in their own homes. Bahá’u’lláh has enjoined upon the Bahá’ís the sacred obligation of teaching. We have no priests, therefore the service once rendered by priests to their religions is the service every single Bahá’í is expected to render individually to his religion. He must be the one who enlightens new souls, confirms them, heals the wounded and the weary upon the road of life, and gives them to quaff from the chalice of everlasting life - the knowledge of the Manifestation of God in His Day.
The friends should also be encouraged within their own countries to go out and establish new centres by moving from places where there are already fifteen Bahá’ís. Although this may seem a daring act at so early a stage in the development of these communities, without audacity and courage the work will not go forward. We must not concentrate on our limitations, but on the boundless possibilities of the bounty of God, which will be vouchsafed to those who arise to propagate His Faith.
He is very pleased to see the practical way you have gone about executing your Six-Year Plan by biting off, so to speak, the work for one year, and fully approves of the goals you have set yourselves.
He noticed in one of your letters a reference to the translation and publication of literature: Although your Assembly will naturally have to assume full responsibility for Dutch and Flemish translations and publications, the ones in the French language are a different matter in view of the fact that French literature is not only needed in Belgium and Luxembourg, but also for France and Switzerland, and can be used widely throughout Europe and other countries. In view of this, your Assembly should avoid all duplication of effort which is a waste of time and money, and keep in close touch with the Paris Assembly and the Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assembly, in order to find out what translations they are working on and what prospective publications they have in mind. In this way, time, effort and money will be saved.He was very happy to see that you are planning a Summer School in Holland. Such activities stimulate the friends, and are also a means of confirming interested contacts who may attend. He hopes it will be a great success.
He also hopes the Benelux Bulletin will be a means of encouraging and stimulating the believers throughout that area.You may be sure that he will remember you all in his prayers in the holy Shrines, and supplicate that Bahá’u’lláh may watch over your work, bless your efforts, and protect and strengthen you, in every way.
With warmest Bahá’í greetings, R. Rabbání
Dear and valued co-workers:
I fully share the joy and exultation that has filled the hearts of the valiant promoters of the Faith throughout the Benelux countries at this latest and most remarkable evidence of the onward march of their beloved Faith in so important an area of the European continent. This memorable milestone in the evolution of the institutions Bahá’u’lláh's embryonic Order, now firmly established in each of the sovereign states of Holland, of Belgium and of Luxembourg, augurs well for its future unfoldment and ultimate fruition in those countries.
The efforts, so nobly exerted in the past by the band of pioneers, resident believers and itinerant teachers in each of these states, must, in consequence of the auspicious opening of a new phase in the establishment of this Divine Order, be multiplied a hundredfold, and the standard of consecration and of service to His Cause must be raised to still greater heights. No obstacle, however formidable, no test or trial however severe, should deflect them for a moment from the task they have pledged themselves to fulfil.
The Six-Year Plan, on which they have joyously and confidently embarked, must be made the object of their constant solicitude and their earnest deliberations in the years immediately ahead. No sacrifice can be deemed too great, no labour too arduous. For the purpose of achieving its goals all must arise, whether young or old, however limited their resources or experience, to contribute their share to the consummation of this collective historic task. A concerted effort, unexampled in its range and intensity, must needs be exerted to augment, to an unprecedented degree, the number of the avowed and active supporters of the Faith in each of these three countries, whose people stand in such dire need of its life-giving principles and ideals as well as its divinely appointed institutions. Simultaneously, effective measures must be undertaken, by the elected representatives of these communities, as well as by the rank and file of the believers, to multiply rapidly the number of isolated centres, groups and local assemblies, constituting the bedrock on which a divinely conceived order must rest. Every firmly-grounded spiritual assembly must, moreover, be incorporated for the purpose of reinforcing this foundation. Steps must also be taken to secure from the civil authorities concerned the recognition of the Bahá’í marriage certificate as well as of the Bahá’í Holy Days. The translation of Bahá’í literature into Dutch, French and Flemish, and its publication and dissemination, must likewise be energetically undertaken and carried out. The number of Summer-Schools must, gradually, increase and their scope be continually widened. And, last but not least, a plot should be selected and purchased in the outskirts of the capital city of Belgium to serve as a site for the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkár of the Benelux countries.
The task confronting these newly emerged, wholly dedicated, steadily unfolding, highly promising communities is admittedly strenuous and calls for a prolonged effort, the utmost consecration, vigilance and self-sacrifice. The interval during which this vast enterprise is to be consummated is exceedingly short. The resources at the disposal of the prosecutors of this far-reaching Plan are extremely limited. The spirit, however that so powerfully animates them in the discharge of their sacred and inescapable duties is such as to ensure, if they persevere along the path they now tread, their complete and total victory.
That they may prove themselves worthy of their high calling; that they may rise to such heights as to excite the unqualified admiration of their brethren not only in the European continent but throughout both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres; that they may, through the range and quality of their concerted exertions, draw forth a measure of Divine bounty adequate to meet the pressing needs and manifold requirements of their glorious Mission, is my ardent and constant prayer for them all as I lay my head on the threshold of His Most Holy Shrine. Shoghi
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